Thursday, April 23, 2015

Autism Acceptance Challenge 16: Ask an Autistic

Not long ago, I sat in a meeting composed of parents and
professionals. The group was interested in learning more about what supports
autistic people need. How would they find out? You can probably guess what
their solution was: Let’s survey all the parents! Not one person suggested
talking to autistic people themselves. I wasn’t having a good speech day and it
didn't get any better from there. I wish I could say that I quickly and
diplomatically pointed out the error in their groupthink. Some days I can. Some
days I just…can’t. It left me feeling all powerless and Twilight Zoned. My identity as an advocate/activist was a
joke. There was no point to my presence in the meeting and I was never going
again.

And then it was another day. I remembered that being
autistic sometimes means not being able to get words out and I made a plan to
communicate with the group in a way that would work for me.

CHALLENGE: What do autistic people need? Ask us. Ask an autistic person in your life these questions:

1.What would you most like people to know about
autism?

2.What supports do you need to do the things you
want to do?

IMPORTANT: The person you ask is under no obligation to
answer you. Do not go out there demanding responses and tell them I sent you.
The point of this to get used to seeing people as the experts on their own
lives. Any time or information the autistic person gives to you is a gift. You
have no idea what it may be costing them.

If you are autistic, complete this challenge by answering
the questions in the comments here. But only if you want to and have the spoons to do it.

2 comments:

1. What would you most like people to know about autism? That just because a lot of the things we say or do are not usual or done conventionally does not mean that they are wrong or that any one else's way is necessarily better.

2. What supports do you need to do the things you want to do?I need to be allowed to communicate through text(I find myself not being able to do things on a regular basis due "phone call only" policies as one example) and to wear my headphones when I need them.